Chapter 126: Choosing No One

​Sofia took a slow, steady breath before pulling a simple robe over her body. Every muscle ached from the intensity of the night. Her limbs felt heavy, her mind foggy, but she forced herself to stand.

She walked to the door and opened it.

Alaric and Damien were standing exactly where they had promised they would be.

Neither of them had moved.

“Come in,” Sofia said softly.

As they walked into the room, the silence was once again filled with the echo of their thoughts.

“She looks so fragile, but her scent… it’s stronger than before,” Damien’s mental voice whispered, full of fear. “She’s going to tell me to go. I can feel it. She’s going to choose Alaric because he’s the stable one, the one who didn’t hurt her first.”

On the other side, Alaric’s thoughts were full of fear. “She still doesn’t trust me. I can see the wall she’s built behind her eyes. I’ve done so much to keep her near me, but I think I’ve only pushed her further away. If she tells me to leave, I don’t know if I can.”

Sofia sat on the edge of the bed, her hands trembling slightly in her lap. She looked at them both, the uncle and the nephew, two powerful Alphas who were currently terrified of a young woman’s words.

“Thank you,” Sofia began, her voice steadying. “Thank you both for helping me through… the heat. I know it wasn’t easy.”

Both men nodded, their expressions tense. They waited for the “but” they knew was coming.

“But right now,” Sofia continued, looking from Damien to Alaric, “I need to find myself. I’ve spent so long being afraid, being abused, and being told who I belong to. I’m not choosing anyone right now. I need to know who Sofia is without an Alpha standing over her.”

The pain that spiked in their minds was almost enough to make Sofia flinch.

“Not choosing?” Damien thought, his heart sinking into his stomach. “I finally found my mate, and I’m losing her before I even had her.”

“She’s walking away,” Alaric’s mind groaned. “Even after everything, she wants a life I’m not part of.”

Despite their inner pain, they both gave a slow, respectful nod. They knew they couldn’t force her—not anymore.

Sofia turned her gaze specifically to Alaric. “And Alaric… I won’t be working at your factory anymore. I can’t go back to that life. I’m going to find my own job. I need to earn my own way.”

Alaric’s jaw tightened. Outwardly, he simply nodded. “If that is what you wish, Sofia.”

But inside his head, the roar of his wolf was deafening. “No! The factory was the only place I knew she was safe!”

Damien’s thoughts were just as panicked. “I’m scared for her safety.”

Sofia heard it all. She saw the love, the worry, and the possessiveness that they couldn’t hide. She knew they wouldn’t truly stay away, but for the first time, she was the one setting the rules.

She sucked in a deep breath and decided to tell them the secret. “My wolf is a white wolf.”

The room went deathly silent. The air seemed to vibrate with the weight of Sofia’s confession. Alaric and Damien stared at her, their eyes wide with a mixture of awe and pure terror.

“A White Wolf,” Damien whispered, his voice shaking. He took a half-step back as if the sheer power of the revelation had pushed him. “The legend… it’s real. No wonder the heat was so intense. No wonder you could take both of us.”

Alaric was the first to find his composure, though his face was pale. “Congratulations, Sofia,” he said, his voice deep and formal, though his eyes burned with a new, protective fire. “That is a gift many thought was lost to history. It is a great honor.”

Sofia offered a small, tired smile. “Thank you.”

She watched them closely. She chose not to tell them about the warning her wolf had given her—about the war, or the hundreds of men who would soon be scenting the air for her. She didn’t tell them that she could already hear their silent panic growing louder.

But she didn’t have to. Alaric and Damien were Alphas; they knew history. They knew that a White Wolf was more than a woman—she was a goddess that every pack in the world would kill to possess. They knew that the “vessel” was unique; there was only one White Wolf at a time, and the power wouldn’t pass to another until the human host was dead.

“She’s a dead woman walking,” Alaric’s thought hammered into Sofia’s brain. “Every Alpha from here to the coast will be at her throat by sunset.”

“She has to be in the packhouse.” Damien’s mind was racing in a completely different direction. “I can’t protect her staying here. This is neutral territory.”

Sofia felt a wave of exhaustion hit her. Hearing their protective instincts turn into such violent, possessive thoughts was overwhelming.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Sofia said softly, making both men jump. “I know you’re afraid for me. But I’m a White Wolf now. I’m not the girl you had to protect anymore.”

Damien opened his mouth to protest, but Alaric caught his arm, shaking his head.

“Don’t pressure her,” Alaric mind-linked Damien, though Sofia heard it clearly. “If we force her now, we may annoy her. We follow her. We guard her from the shadows. But we let her think she’s free. It’s the only way to keep her alive.”

Damien gritted his teeth, his jaw working as he stared at Sofia. He knew Alaric was right; he couldn’t pressure her.

“Fine… but please contact us if anything goes wrong,” he pleaded, his wolf howling in his mind not to let her be alone. “Take her back to the packhouse,” Damien’s wolf urged, and despite how much Damien wanted to do that, he knew he couldn’t.

“Thank you but I’m tired,” Sofia whispered, her voice barely audible. “I just want to sleep. Please… you may leave now.”

The request felt like a physical blow to both men.

“I want to stay,” Alaric’s mind growled, thick with a possessive instinct that was almost suffocating.

But he stepped forward, his expression controlled despite the storm in his head. He leaned down and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to her cheek. His scent filled her senses one last time. “Rest well, Sofia,” he said aloud. He turned and walked toward the door, his heart sinking with every step, feeling like he was leaving his soul behind in that room.

Damien hesitated. He stood there, his eyes searching hers, looking for any excuse to stay. “Take her to the packhouse,” his wolf roared in his mind. “Lock the doors. Keep the world away. She’s our mate—she’s the White Wolf!”

But Damien forced his wolf back. He knew that if he forced her now, he would lose her forever. He stepped into her space and pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly. Sofia could feel the frantic beat of his heart against her chest.

“Contact me,” Damien pleaded into her hair, his voice cracking. “Promise me, Sofia. If anything feels wrong, if you scent someone you don’t know, if you feel even a tiny bit of danger… call me.”

“I promise,” Sofia whispered, her head resting against his shoulder for a brief moment.

Damien pulled back slowly. He leaned in and captured her lips in a deep, desperate, passionate kiss.

When he finally let her go, he looked like a man heading into battle.

As the front door finally clicked shut, Sofia was left in a silence that was almost suffocating.

She slowly climbed back into the large bed, pulling the blanket up to her chin as exhaustion washed over her. Her body still ached, but it was her mind that felt the most overwhelmed.

Closing her eyes, she let out a quiet breath.

Everything had changed.

Her life had taken a sharp turn she never could have imagined. The girl who had once been ignored, mocked for her looks, and overlooked by everyone was suddenly standing at the center of something far bigger than herself.

A White Wolf.

A woman every Alpha in the world might soon be searching for.

Sofia stared into the darkness behind her eyelids, her heart beating slowly in her chest.

She had no idea what the future held.

And for the first time in her life, the thought both terrified and excited her.

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